Jan Davies is the Chair of the Walsall Community Network, which runs 15 Community Associations across Walsall, serving around 80,000 people a month. This figure has risen from around 77,000 since covid.

Jan has worked in and for the community for 25 years and has a real passion for helping and support those who need it most. Here she tells us about some of the fantastic work the community associations do for the people of Walsall:

“The Community Associations offer a huge range of activities and support for all ages and all backgrounds. Every one of us who works at the associations wants to make a difference to the lives of our residents and support them when they need it most.

“I think as time has gone on people realise how much they can get out of coming along to their local association. They not only get to take part in lots of different activities such as art classes, bowling, dancing, exercise classes, they also develop friendships and social networks in their community.

“Anyone that knows me knows I am a big partnership person. I believe in partnership working and the fact that the more people work together, share ideas and resources, the more we can achieve for our residents and the bigger impact we can have. I’d like to share just a few examples of the support we offer and the impact it has:

“During COVID we were given some lottery money to serve a target of 4,000 people. We ended up serving 16,191 people with a range of support including food parcels, shopping, befriending, collecting prescriptions and much more. This wouldn’t have been possible without the help of around 45 volunteers and some of the other 600 community groups across Walsall.

“We all know the cost-of-living crisis is hitting people hard. A lot of our centres run food banks and in Brownhills alone, in one month, we served 101 adults and 71 children with food. This equates to 1053 kgs of food and 146 non-food items supplied to our most vulnerable residents.

“Through the housing support fund, I was able to help a new mother whose baby had been kept in hospital. She wasn’t eating because all the money she had was being spent on going to see her baby. We were able to get some food parcels, help her get some clothes and items for the baby because she had nothing, and support her with the cost of the bus fare”.

All 15 Community Association Centres have signed up to run a safe place scheme for people who feel vulnerable and need somewhere to go and someone to talk to. Many of the people who work in the centres are mental health and domestic abuse trained, so can offer support, and know where to signpost people to for help. They are also part of Walsall Connect, which supports people to access online services, and recently helped 600 residents from Brownhills to get their council tax rebate. In offering this support they are also able to find out more about people, their needs and help them in other ways. For example, signposting families to the Holiday Food and Activity programme.

“As I said before, partnership working is key to supporting a lot of what we do. All of the community associations network regularly, applying for funding together to support the whole of the network and we work together to deliver bids. As the Chair of the associations, I am also as proactive as I can be on behalf of us all, sitting on the Walsall Together Board and the Health and Well Being Board.

"We very much take a resilient community approach to what we do which aligns with the partnership approach. We run services based on the needs of our local people and build relationships and trust with both the users of our services and the organisations we work with.

“I’d like to think that we do this really well and will continue to develop these relationships. Partnership working and making the best use of our resources is going to be more important than ever as we enter into even more uncertain times ahead”.

In her spare time Jan said she likes to get out in the fresh air and go walking. She also told us she was 41 when she passed her driving test and 42 when she got her first formal qualification.

“They say that life begins at 40, mine certainly did!”

To find out more about the Walsall Community Network visit www.walsallcommunitynetwork.co.uk or find them on Facebook @walsallcommunitynetwork